Pastoral Letter

Pastoral Letter: Consequences of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act

The President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, has released a pastoral letter titled 'The Narrow Gate'.

The letter, available this weekend in Westminster's parishes, examines the consequences of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act.

Excerpt

"The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act has changed the legal definition of marriage in this land. No longer does this definition assume or support the complementarity of male and female, or expect sexual fidelity between the married couple, or see marriage as oriented towards conceiving and nurturing of children. The titles ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ are now officially gender neutral. This is the deconstruction of marriage as it has been understood for millennia. In effect, this Act completes the privatisation of marriage, so that its central content is whatever the couple wish to construct. Marriage is no longer a truly public institution, at the basis of society."

Read/Download

You can download the full text of Archbishop Nichols' pastoral letter by using the link in the top right-hand corner of this article.